Csaba Csere Explains How to Make the Field at the Daytona 500

A process that makes you long for those carefree afternoons in advanced-placement calculus.

CSABA CSERE

Apr 1, 2007

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Qualifying for one of the 43 starting positions at Daytona is the most arcane and convoluted procedure I've ever seen. The process completely shatters the quaint notion of selecting the 43 starters based on their speed during qualifying day. For this year's running of the Daytona 500 in February, there were actually five different ways a driver could get into the race.

OPTION 1: This is the most traditional approach. Turn in one of the two fastest times during the qualifying session held one week before the race. In 2007, the fastest time was turned in by Dave Gilliland in his Ford at 186.320 mph to win the pole position. Starting alongside Gilliland was Ricky Rudd, also driving a Ford, who lapped at 185.609 mph to complete the front row. Provided these two drivers went through the rest of the Daytona process—in other words, running in one of the two Gatorade Duel 150-mile races run on the Thursday before the 500—they would be on the front row of the big race.

OPTION 2: Be a driver for a team that finished in the top 35 in the points standings during the 2006 season. These drivers automatically make the 500, provided they also participate in one of the two Gatorade Duel races.

The starting positions for the two Gatorade Duel races, however, are less than obvious. The pole position in Duel One is easy. It's simply Gilliland, the fastest qualifier. Similarly, the pole position in Duel Two goes to Rudd, the second fastest qualifier.

From here on, however, the starting order in each Duel race is based partly on qualifying speed and partly on the finishing positions of the team owner's points standings. If an owner's points rank is an odd number, the driver goes to Duel One. Even numbered teams send their drivers to Duel Two.

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So the second starting position in Duel One this year went to David Ragan because his team, Roush Fenway Racing, finished ninth in last year's standings and he was the fastest team driver outside the front row. Position two in the Duel Two race went to David Stremme because his team finished 32nd in last year's standings. And so it went with the "odd-team-standings" drivers in order of qualifying speed lining up in Duel One, and their "even-team-standings" counterparts lined up in Duel Two.

The non-top-35 team drivers were also split between the two fields with the fastest one, Boris Said, going into Duel One, and the rest alternating between the two Duel races as they came up on the list.

Because Michael Waltrip's Toyota was disallowed for rules infractions during qualifying, he started dead last in Duel One. Similarly, Matt Kenseth and Casey Kahne started at the back of Duel Two because they posted no times during qualifying.

OPTION 3: If a driver is not lucky enough to be part of one of the top-35 teams, he can also make the race by being one of the two highest-finishing, non-top-35 drivers in each Gatorade Duel race.

In 2007, in Gatorade Duel One, Michael Waltrip finished 8th and Boris Said finished 12th to claim two of those spots. In Gatorade Duel Two, the highest non-top-35 finishers were Joe Nemechek in 9th and Mike Wallace in 11th. These four drivers transferred to the Daytona 500 starting field.

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OPTION 4: This was once known as the "Richard Petty" rule because it was conceived to get the "King" into the race during his waning years. The rule states that if there is a driver who was a past "series cup champion" (substitute Winston or Nextel for "series" as needed) and who has failed to qualify via options 1, 2, or 3, that driver will be awarded starting position 43, at the tail end of the field.

This year, that slot went to Dale Jarrett, the 50-year-old driver who had won the Nextel Cup series championship in 1999.

With 43 starting positions in the Daytona 500, here's how they were filled so far. The two fastest qualifiers were also drivers on top-35 teams—what a surprise—so their two starting slots are included among those allocated to the top-35 teams. That left eight starting positions up for grabs.

Four went to the two highest non-top-35 finishers in each of the Gatorade Duel races, accounting for 39 starting positions.

Stating position 43 was reserved for Dale Jarrett. That left three starting positions remaining (when position 43 isn't awarded to a past series champion, there are four left). These three positions go to the three fastest-qualifying, non-top-35 drivers who did not qualify by another method. In 2007, those three drivers were Sterling Marlin, who turned the 8th fastest qualifying time, Johnny Sauter, who was 9th quickest, and David Reutimann, who qualified 14th.

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So with the field set, here's how the 43 drivers were gridded for the start of the Daytona 500. Starting on the pole was fast qualifier Dave Gilliland, with the second-fastest qualifier, Ricky Rudd, alongside him.

In the second row, starting third, was Tony Stewart, because he had won the Gatorade Duel One race. Jeff Gordon, who won the Gatorade Duel Two race should have started next to Stewart, but since he was disqualified during the post-race inspection because his car was too low, he was relegated to starting position 42, and Kurt Busch, who finished second in Gatorade Duel Two, started in fourth.

From here, the starting positions alternate between the drivers from the two duel races in order of their finishing positions. So 5th goes to Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished second in Duel One, and 6th goes to David Stremme, who finished behind Busch in Duel Two, and so on. (Keep in mind that only the top-35 drivers and the two highest non-35 finishers are transferring from the Duel races to the 500.)

This worked through row 18. However, in row 19, things get wonky again. Starting in the 37th spot on the inside of row 19 was Dave Blaney, who ended up 30th in Duel One. There was no one left from Duel Two to put alongside him because it had one fewer driver than Duel One (30 versus 31) and, furthermore, Jeff Gordon had been plucked from Duel Two and moved to 42nd spot for his rules violation.

So 38th position was filled by Sterling Marlin, the first of the three non-top-35 drivers to make the race based on qualifying speed and a Duel Two driver. Then in row 20, Robby Gordon, the last of the top-35 drivers from Duel One, took position 39, and David Reutimann, who also qualified on non-top-35 speed, was taken from Duel Two and put into the 40th spot.

Johnny Sauter, the final non-top-35 speed qualifier, who actually ran faster than Reutimann, got the 41st spot in row 21, apparently because he was in Duel One and completed the Duel One and Two alternations. With Jeff Gordon in 42nd, and Dale Jarrett in 43rd, the field was complete.

Now that you all understand this, next year we will run a sweepstakes in which the prizes will be awarded by asking you to predict the Duel One and Two starting orders, based on qualifying speeds. Any ties will then be settled by determining the final starting order for the 500 based on the Duel One and Two finishing positions. I am confident we won't be awarding any prizes.